Morning Wire XX
[0] Enhanced unemployment benefits kept thousands of workers out of the workforce.
[1] A new report confirms what many suspected.
[2] We'll break down the impact of the CARES Act, which handed hundreds of extra dollars to jobless Americans every month.
[3] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[4] It's January 8th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[5] The Hollywood Award season is off to a rocky start.
[6] Between COVID fears and BLM controversy, stars are opting out of the year's biggest award shows.
[7] We have the details.
[8] And the NFL witnesses a meltdown that goes viral and prompts controversy debate over mental health.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to now.
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[18] To combat the forced unemployment caused by COVID -19 lockdowns, the federal government gave jobless workers an extra $300 to $600 a week in 2020 and 2021.
[19] Critics predicted these enhanced unemployment benefits would increase the nation's jobless rate.
[20] A new study shows they were right.
[21] Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[22] Ben, thanks for joining us.
[23] Thanks for having me. So first of all, explain the CARES Act with regards to this extra cash going to unemployed people.
[24] Originally, the CARES Act gave people who were unemployed during the pandemic an extra $600 a week over and above what they would have earned from unemployment benefits.
[25] That ran out in August 2020.
[26] The stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump that December reinstated the benefit, but it reduced it to $300 a week.
[27] That bonus was scheduled to run out last September, but 25 states voluntarily severed the extra benefits last June.
[28] The governor of one of those states, Florida Republican Ron DeSantis, said he saw an immediate rebound in people looking for work.
[29] We definitely saw more job searches when we announced that you had to search again and then the discontinuing of the 300 supplement.
[30] And we did see increased jobs in June and July.
[31] And what did the proponents of the extra money say?
[32] They denied the enhanced unemployment benefits made much difference.
[33] For example, President Joe Biden said in May, I know there's been a lot of discussions since Friday, since Friday's report, that people are being paid to stay home rather than go to work.
[34] Well, we don't see much evidence of that.
[35] But a month later, the president acknowledged the impact the extra federal funds were having on the labor market, and even seem to approve of them.
[36] Guess what?
[37] Employers can't find workers.
[38] I said, yeah.
[39] This is an employee's bargaining chip now.
[40] And what did this new report conclude?
[41] This paper, which was published last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that enhanced unemployment benefits significantly increased the number of people who were unwilling to work during the pandemic.
[42] Its authors found, quote, The flow of unemployed workers into employment increased by around two -thirds following early termination.
[43] The authors say their conclusion, again I'm quoting, runs counter to the conventional wisdom that these programs had a very small or even negligible effect on unemployment.
[44] So it was a pretty sharp rebuke to President Biden.
[45] And what's the main reason economists believe this program kept people out of the workforce?
[46] They made more money from unemployment than they could from work.
[47] the Congressional Budget Office found that in the initial part of the enhancement, eight out of ten workers made more money collecting unemployment than they would have earned from their jobs.
[48] After those benefits were reduced to $300 a week, about half of all workers still would have lost money by going to work, according to a private sector study.
[49] The bottom line is the extra benefits incentivize workers to stay at home.
[50] But ending those benefits hasn't necessarily meant that Americans have returned to the workforce, has it?
[51] No, it hasn't.
[52] There are currently 10 .6 million unfilled jobs, according to the U .S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[53] Almost four out of every 10 able -bodied people in their prime working years are not in the workforce.
[54] And a record 4 .5 million people quit their jobs in November, according to Labor Department data.
[55] That may be in part because they've stockpiled money from another federal program, the child tax credit, which paid parents up to $300 per month per child.
[56] The CTC, in that form, ended at the end of 2021.
[57] have to see how that impacts the job market in the coming months.
[58] So unemployment benefits aren't the only economic policy impacting our national financial health.
[59] Not by a long shot.
[60] Ben, thanks for reporting.
[61] It's my pleasure.
[62] That's Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
[63] Coming up, Hollywood's award season begins, but things aren't going as planned.
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[68] Most years, January means the beginning of award show season for Hollywood.
[69] But this year, things are off to a rocky start.
[70] The Grammys have been postponed, and the Golden Globes, the big precursor to the Oscars, aren't going to be televised.
[71] Here to tell us what's going on with the Hollywood's award season is Daily Wire Entertainment reporter Megan Basham.
[72] So, Megan, let's start with the Grammys.
[73] Suddenly they've been delayed.
[74] What's going on there?
[75] Well, the show had been on track to get back to a normal in -person show on January 31st.
[76] After having that socially distant ceremony last year, maybe you remember that.
[77] But then, of course, the Omicron variant hit.
[78] So basically, Grammy producers started hearing from performers and nominees that they're fearful of Omicron and reluctant to attend the event.
[79] So the Recording Academy put out a statement saying that after consulting with city and state officials, they feel like Omicron poses too many risks.
[80] So for the health and safety, that's their words of the artists.
[81] They're delaying the ceremony indefinitely.
[82] Okay, so the show will go on at some point, but it seems like a disproportionate response given what we know about Omicron.
[83] I mean, all the data suggests that Omicron is very mild, and for vaccinated people, it's usually milder than the flu.
[84] Right, very true.
[85] And to sort of underline that this does seem like a bit of an overreaction, the arena where the Grammys were supposed to be held, Crypto .com Arena, or until it was known a few weeks ago, the Staples Center.
[86] Well, it has basketball and hockey games, along with other concerts, booked out for months.
[87] But, you know, that said, the Grammys are hardly alone here.
[88] There's a whole slew of major award shows that typically set the stage for the Oscars.
[89] Thank Critics Choice, American Film Institute Awards, several more.
[90] they've all been delayed ostensibly due to Omicron.
[91] And it's really just thrown award season into total chaos.
[92] Well, what about the Golden Globes?
[93] I hear they have bigger problems than just Omicron.
[94] Yes, you could say that.
[95] I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that the Golden Globes are facing an existential crisis at this point.
[96] So for those who aren't familiar, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been putting on the Golden Globes for 77 years.
[97] And they've always sort of been known as Oscars' crazier, more fun little sibling.
[98] The champagne flowed freely, the acceptance speeches tended to get a little wild, hosts like Ricky Jervais, generally less scripted.
[99] And there are always some kind of out -of -left -field winners, so it was generally just a good time for the celebrities.
[100] But then early last year, after 2020's Black Lives Matter protests, the Golden Globes came under fire for a lack of diversity.
[101] And that controversy grew when the then president responded to the criticism by emailing members an article that characterized BLM as a racist hate group.
[102] And just a couple of weeks after that, NBC announced that it wasn't going to be broadcasting the 2022 show.
[103] Tom Cruise very publicly sent his three awards back to the organization.
[104] And then, I guess, final nail in the coffin a couple of days ago, variety revealed that the Globes fail to sign on any celebrity presenters.
[105] Okay, so a total implosion there.
[106] Right, yes, exactly.
[107] I mean, the awards are still going to be handed out on Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, but just who's going to be handing them out and whether they're going to be live streamed or if there's any way for anyone to watch them is still a mystery.
[108] So it's really just an absolute mess.
[109] So it seems like this might be the end of the globes.
[110] Yeah, it very possibly could be, at least for the next few years.
[111] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[112] Absolutely, anytime.
[113] That was Daily Wire Entertainment reporter, Megan Basham.
[114] In one of the more bizarre occurrences you'll ever see on a football field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' wide receiver Antonio Brown removed his shoulder pads and ran off the field late in the third quarter of the Buccaneers' Sunday game against the New York Jets.
[115] The incident has raised questions not just about Brown's status, but the larger issue of mental health issues in the sport.
[116] Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan is here to talk about what happened and the fallout.
[117] Joe, thanks for coming on.
[118] Yeah, you got it, John.
[119] So first, tell us about this viral moment.
[120] What exactly happened?
[121] Yeah, I mean, a lot of people were left asking that question, actually.
[122] So it was a wild scene on Sunday.
[123] Toward the end of the quarter, cameras caught wide receiver Mike Evans attempting to calm down Brown on the buck's sideline.
[124] Really, out of nowhere, Brown removed his shoulder pads and chucked them toward the bench.
[125] He then removed his shirt and his gloves, tossing them into the crowd before cutting across the end zone, waving to the fans, again, shirtless.
[126] and running through the tunnel.
[127] No one really understood what caused AB to act the way that he did, and there are some stories coming out from both parties.
[128] Yeah, tell us about that.
[129] What are the explanations?
[130] Well, following the game, Buck's head coach Brouserians refused to really dive into why AB left the game shirtless.
[131] Instead, he simply stated the Brown was no longer part of the team.
[132] Buck's quarterback Tom Brady offered support of his teammates, suggesting he's dealing with some mental health issues.
[133] I think everybody should find, you know, hopefully do what they can to help them in ways that, you know, he really needs it.
[134] Brady has long been an advocate for Antonio Brown.
[135] He lobbied to have Brown signed by the New England Patriots and even had the receiver move in with him during his short stint with the Patriots in 2019.
[136] But there are many layers to this.
[137] First, Brown has been dealing with an ankle injury for most of the season and was listed as questionable on the Buck's injury report leading up to the game in New York.
[138] Monday, Aaron is denied knowing that Brown was injured.
[139] On Thursday, Brown, in his first statements, since the debacle, issued a lengthy statement via his attorney saying that he was pressured to play by the team.
[140] He claimed he took a pain -killing shot in order to play.
[141] Toward the end of the third quarter, Brown says the pain from his injury became too much and told the coaching staff that he couldn't go back in.
[142] Brown was then told he was, quote, done and was cut from the team on the spot.
[143] Brown also claims that the organization is attempting to cover up the story that they knew he was injured.
[144] He revealed in his statement that he has broken fragments in his ankle and a torn ligament, found at an MRI on Monday.
[145] The Bucks released Brown officially on Thursday saying that he had been medically cleared to play in the game and never told team personnel that he was too hurt to re -enter the game.
[146] So competing narratives there.
[147] Right, and there's more.
[148] The other side is that Brown was just a few stats away from making roughly $1 million in incentives.
[149] Was he upset because he wasn't getting enough opportunities in the game?
[150] I don't know, but it's a theory.
[151] But Brown has also acted erratically in the past, correct?
[152] Yeah, look, this is almost like the final straw, if you will, because it's actually kind of, it's a sad story, which is why you could tell that Brady was clearly concerned by what happened.
[153] After eight years with the Steelers, Brown was traded to the Raiders in March of 2019, only to be released less than five months later for multiple issues, including getting into a verbal altercation with general manager Mike Mayhock.
[154] In September 2019, Brown was accused of sexual assault by a former trainer.
[155] He was suspended by the NFL for eight games in July 2020, that was for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
[156] He was also suspended by the NFL for three games this season, due to presenting a fake vaccination card.
[157] It's truly a concerning story of a once -great player just imploding in front of our very eyes, and there are clearly issues that need to be addressed.
[158] Sounds like it, and we probably just witnessed the end of someone's career.
[159] I would think so.
[160] Thanks, Joe.
[161] Anytime.
[162] Daily Wire Sports reporter, Joe Morgan.
[163] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[164] Galane Maxwell's lawyers are pushing for a new trial after learning that one of the jurors publicly claimed to be a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
[165] Last month, Maxwell was found guilty on multiple counts in a sex trafficking case.
[166] And NASCAR rejected driver Brandon Brown's sponsorship deal with a Let's Go Brandon -themed cryptocurrency coin.
[167] A spokesperson for Brown's racing team said, quote, NASCAR did not speak with Brandon built motorsports prior to making their decision to rescind the approval, and multiple attempts to set up a conversation to address this matter, went unacknowledged.
[168] NASCAR insists that the move was not a reversal, rather upholding its previous decision not to promote the Let's Go Brandon's slogan.
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[171] Thanks for waking up with us.
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